Brazil for sure as i think they have it easy (sorry dutchies ) and if the Germans can retain their energy after beating the Argentine's i think they will get past Spain and make for a spectacular finale

I think the best game of the tourney is yet to come and will be Ger vs Spa

PS I don't know who will win, if i did i would have won last week's $50m lottery lol

PSS If maradona hit's the deck is cuz he OD'ed! Hey coach pass the coke

England was completely outplayed by Germany, so they deserved to be kicked out. And the last 2 goals were due to extremely poor defending. For long periods of the match Germany just walked through the English defence unchallanged.

But if it's Germany instead of the Argies...1974 all over again??? But with the Dutch winning.

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Half correct. The Dutch will win, but the final will be VS Germany or Spain. Argentina isn't running well. Their defense is lacking, Maradona will let the slow and old Juan Veron play, which decreases midfield strength and eliminates combinations leading to Messi.

Though all I hope is to see some attractive football from the Dutch team this tournament. It's been generally solid, but not fun to watch.

Brazil's midfield can't keep up with the speed the Dutch *should* be able to create. They will lose.

Half correct. The Dutch will win, but the final will be VS Germany or Spain. Argentina isn't running well. Their defense is lacking, Maradona will let the slow and old Juan Veron play, which decreases midfield strength and eliminates combinations leading to Messi.

Though all I hope is to see some attractive football from the Dutch team this tournament. It's been generally solid, but not fun to watch.

Brazil's midfield can't keep up with the speed the Dutch *should* be able to create. They will lose.

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A Dutch Arsenal fan (with a username "Clockwork Orange" ) noted that BBC had an in-depth analysis on how Brazil plays. Suffice to say that when they attack it's always a 6-space-4 in the field (the 4 is the defense line, or when the fullbacks are attacking, the CBs and 2 midfielders, almost always Gilberto and Melo). That space should be exploited by the Dutch, and they do exploit such space (see Robben's goal against Slovakia).

And yes, Gilberto's called the Invisible Wall for two reasons, because he can stop the opposition, but he's not exactly fast. Melo's only slightly better.

A Dutch Arsenal fan (with a username "Clockwork Orange" ) noted that BBC had an in-depth analysis on how Brazil plays. Suffice to say that when they attack it's always a 6-space-4 in the field (the 4 is the defense line, or when the fullbacks are attacking, the CBs and 2 midfielders, almost always Gilberto and Melo). That space should be exploited by the Dutch, and they do exploit such space (see Robben's goal against Slovakia).

And yes, Gilberto's called the Invisible Wall for two reasons, because he can stop the opposition, but he's not exactly fast. Melo's only slightly better.

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René v/d Gijp (ex-pro) is constantly saying Felipe Melo and Gilberto Silva are crap on Dutch telly. And seeing the Brazil games (I watched nearly everything this tournament) I have to agree.

Though I don't think our coach will do this: Put Rafael vd Vaart in place of Nigel de Jong on our midfield, in order to create an offensive and creative midfield, and place Robben and Elia/Kuyt on the flanks. Also, van Persie needs to give up his striker position. He can't do it in these small spaces.

René v/d Gijp (ex-pro) is constantly saying Felipe Melo and Gilberto Silva are crap on Dutch telly. And seeing the Brazil games (I watched nearly everything this tournament) I have to agree.

Though I don't think our coach will do this: Put Rafael vd Vaart in place of Nigel de Jong on our midfield, in order to create an offensive and creative midfield, and place Robben and Elia/Kuyt on the flanks. Also, van Persie needs to give up his striker position. He can't do it in these small spaces.

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He can do so, trust me. The one at fault would be the midget, the ugly guy and the gets-injured-doing-a-back-heel guy. They don't pay attention to RVP when THERE'S A LOT OF SPACE AROUND HIM. They only suddenly notice him when 1) the 2 CBs are beside him already, 2) he's already offside as his runs just fizzles out 3) they almost bump into him.

That's why I'm in favor, and most of the Arsenal fans, of starting with Elia-VdV- the gets-injured-doing-a-back-heel guy instead of the midget, the ugly guy and the gets-injured-doing-a-back-heel guy. Robin's the striker FFS, not you three! For all intents and purposes it's not really a front 3 because only Robin's the true "forward". And RVP's already familiar with it as it is the formation he plays at the club.

If De Jong would be dropped, then Sneijder shouldn't "spoil the fun" that VdV tries to do.

So with Elia starting, don't bring in Kuyt or Sneijder and especially Afellay as a sub, maybe Klaas first and make it a front 2 of sorts, but not really one.

Arsenal is way different. You see the same thing with a lot of Liverpool players, who function very well with Liverpool, but suck in their national teams. Something to do with English clubs defenses, space around the penalty box and teams who play completely in service of their strikers.

Van Persie started as an aggressive midfielder in the Dutch team, but that position is so crowded he won't get any playtime. That's why he himself insisted on playing the striker position. He might be a striker in England, but he's not a striker suitable for the Dutch team. Instead of changing four other guys, I would suggest changing to a striker that works, like Huntelaar.

Arsenal is way different. You see the same thing with a lot of Liverpool players, who function very well with Liverpool, but suck in their national teams. Something to do with English clubs defenses, space around the penalty box and teams who play completely in service of their strikers.

Van Persie started as an aggressive midfielder in the Dutch team, but that position is so crowded he won't get any playtime. That's why he himself insisted on playing the striker position. He might be a striker in England, but he's not a striker suitable for the Dutch team. Instead of changing four other guys, I would suggest changing to a striker that works, like Huntelaar.

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Agreed, Arsenal is way different because ALL OPPOSITION AGAINST US park the bus. Talk about having "lots of space."

Only Chelsea didn't do it last season. The two Manchester clubs, 'Pool, and every other team did it. Well except Wolves. And the first game against Everton.

You've just described, in the general sense, each club in the EPL except us, and to a certain extent Chelsea. Nasri, Arshavin, Walcott are just less selfish versions of Robben, Kuyt, and Sneijder.

It's possible to have no changes in the line-up at all, which would be even better than replacing someone in the starting XI. All they have to do is not play like a "small-time" team, and always be "looking for glory". Those three were notorious for that, only Robben's slightly "less" because he scored from one instance he "shot for glory" against the Slovaks (while Sneijder's goal against Japan was supposed to be saved but swerved at the last second LOL). Kuyt shoots closer to the fans on the 2nd tier of stands rather than the goal.

Agreed, Arsenal is way different because ALL OPPOSITION AGAINST US park the bus. Talk about having "lots of space."

Only Chelsea didn't do it last season. The two Manchester clubs, 'Pool, and every other team did it. Well except Wolves. And the first game against Everton.

You've just described, in the general sense, each club in the EPL except us, and to a certain extent Chelsea. Nasri, Arshavin, Walcott are just less selfish versions of Robben, Kuyt, and Sneijder.

It's possible to have no changes in the line-up at all, which would be even better than replacing someone in the starting XI. All they have to do is not play like a "small-time" team, and always be "looking for glory". Those three were notorious for that, only Robben's slightly "less" because he scored from one instance he "shot for glory" against the Slovaks (while Sneijder's goal against Japan was supposed to be saved but swerved at the last second LOL). Kuyt shoots closer to the fans on the 2nd tier of stands rather than the goal.

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Kuyt is the only one of those that actually does alot of useful defense work, but I think his actual qualities as a winger are less. We need players like Robben and Elia to keep the field wide, not someone like vd Vaart on left wing, who hasn't seen the sideline all match because he was pulling way too close to van Persie. And I have to agree Robin does more damage without vd Vaart on the left.

Having a bus parked in front of you is one thing, but not even trying to go around using the wings is insane. vd Vaart himself said he didn't like the left wing position, so he shouldn't be playing there.

I don't think we will agree on van Persie though, unless he starts doing some real damage coming friday

I think they should employ the cricket idea, where the umpire asks to see the screen, then decides (don't quote me there); so should it be in soccer: ref asks for a replay on screen then decides.
I believe it should always be the ref to decide ultimately or it becomes too technical and loses some of the drama that makes it what it is.

If this wasn't a front page poll I would just close this thread for being FUD. We all know the Dutch are going to win thus a discussion is pointless. I just hope the Germans get send back to their country by the Dutch so they'll stay there for a while and don't polute our beaches during the rest of the summer.

If this wasn't a front page poll I would just close this thread for being FUD. We all know the Dutch are going to win thus a discussion is pointless. I just hope the Germans get send back to their country by the Dutch so they'll stay there for a while and don't polute our beaches during the rest of the summer.

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what about the weed fume pollution that crosses the border into our wonderful country ?